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History of Bexar
Prehistory The Amerindian indigenous people, originating in South America, settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. When Juan Bejar arrived in 1494, there were over 200 villages ruled by caciques (chiefs of villages). The south coast of Bexar was the most populated, especially around the area now known as Puerto Viejo. The Bexaran National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any evidence of the Amerindians. 1452 to 1527 Common Era: SPANISH EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION In 1452 the Spanish explorer Juan Bejar became the first European to discover the Caribbean Island chain, discovering the island later named in his honour in 1452. As more and more explorers arrived in the New World it was inevitable that their sponsors and home nations would soon become involved. Both Spain and Portugal fought a series of large naval battles in this area and eventually the Catholic Church became involved at Pope Clement the VII’s insistence. In 1527 the Treaty of Kinkaid was signed giving Spain control of the Western Caribbean, while Portugal was given the Eastern. Both parties had to agree on the condition that missionaries would be supported and allowed access to convert the native peoples of the Caribbean. 1528 to 1589 CE: PLAGUE, OPPRESSION AND EXTINCTION With the arrival of Christian missionaries the Amerindian people were driven to the edge of extinction and beyond. Along with Christianity, the missionaries brought with them European diseases and within a few short years, plague and disease were raging throughout most of the islands in the Caribbean. After nearly 20 years the outbreak of disease had subsided and the missionaries returned in force to convert the remaining natives to Christianity. While having moderate success on the mainland, the Islanders proved to be unwilling to give up their ancestral gods and after nearly thirty years of failed effort the missionaries called to Rome for help. In 1577 Archbishop Francisco Enrique Rosa arrived on the shores of Bexar with a group of faithful and troops recruited by the church for his protection at Puerto Seco. Moving inland he ordered his missionaries to move out among the various tribes of the Amerindians and bring their chieftains to a feast and meeting with him at Seco. At the feast Archbishop Rosa spoke at length and eloquently to the tribal elders and chiefs, in an attempt to get them to coerce their tribesman into converting to Christianity. Despite his best efforts the chiefs refused telling him that they would not forsake their gods and beliefs. With that Archbishop Rosa calmly and with typical Christian brutality ordered his troops to slaughter the unarmed natives. The Amerindian tribesmen were of course outraged by this turn of events and attacked Rosa's forces. In a pitched battle the natives were decimated by Rosa's forces who were armed with modern weapons. For the next dozen years the Archbishop and his army traveled throughout Bexar tracking down different Amerindian tribes and attempting to convert them by force. Almost every remaining settlement was razed and many of the old temples were desecrated or destroyed by the invaders. Eventually the remaining tribes were forced to convert. However on July 17th 1589 Archbishop Francisco Enrique Rosa was killed in an ambush, when an Amerindian warrior slipped up behind him and cut his throat. After the battle, Rosa's remaining troops withdrew to Puerto Seco with the remains of the Archbishop and returned him in honor to Rome. He was later Sainted by Pope Sixtus the V and to this day still rests in a tomb near the Vatican, a hero of the church. With the Amerindians now suppressed, the Spanish now turned to exploiting Bexar’s resources. 1590 to 1873 CE: THE SPANISH DOMINION Spain spent the next century settling and bringing European civilization to most of the Islands of the Caribbean. During this time trade ships plied the waters around the Islands bringing back riches and goods to Europe. While the Spanish were pleased with their new holdings the Portugese were growing increasingly discontented with their holdings in the Eastern Islands. With little arable land and almost no mineral resources the Archipelago had very little to interest a resource starved England. In 1714 Portugal moved troops into Hispaniola and claimed it as a colony, breaking the treaty of Kinkaid starting the Euro-Caribbean Island War. In the early years, Spain with many conflicts around the world was at a distinct disadvantage. Portugal never made any attempt to remove Spanish troops from the other islands but instead flooded the sea around the Carribbean with privateers. It was not long before no ship was safe from attack unless it flew Portuguese colors. It was in 1756 that the tide began to turn as Spain, with newly signed peace treaties with France and England, turned it’s full attention to the Carribean. In the early years the Spanish concentrated their attention on hunting down the pirates that infested the waters around the Islands. With the Piracy problem rapidly on the wane, Spanish warships then began concentrating on Portuguese shipping, prompting a long series of savage naval conflicts though out the Carribean. In the fall of 1788, Portugal, exhausted from the long conflict signed a treaty of peace with the Spanish and withdrew from the Caribbean, never to return. Spain’s period of dominance proved to be a short one and full of strife. Many of the Dons that were sent to administer the different territories of the Caribbean, were more consumed with their own rivalries then they were with governing their holdings. This period was filled with conflict and strife as neighboring states and provinces were often raided or invaded by each other. By the mid 1800’s the citizens who were the ones who suffered most from this constant conflict began to become restive and eventually a new conflict broke out on first one and then all of the islands in the Caribbean. While Spain attempted to retain control of the islands it was hampered by its feuding Dons, who could not, or would not stop feuding among themselves long enough to put down a revolution that was going on all around them. By Spring of 1873 the last of the Spanish Dons and their troops were forced out of their own holdings in Hispaniola and each island more or less began to control it’s own destiny. 1871 TO 1888 CE: THE GRAND KINGDOM OF BEXAR In 1871 Marshal Eduardo Carlos Picotín, who had been leading the revolutionary effort against Spain declared himself King Eduardo the I, Lord of Bexar. King Eduardo’s proclamation immediately sparked protest from many of his supporters and he soon found himself embroiled in a civil war. Eduardo spent the first four years of his reign consolidating his power and destroying his rivals. In 1875 victorious at last Eduardo and his supporters camped at the outskirts of a small town called Cuidad del Rey. One morning Eduardo looked around him and impressed with the natural beauty of the area and the beautiful bay and sparkling beaches decided to make it his capital. Edward spent the rest of his reign building his capitol into his seat of power and to this day Cuidad del Rey is still viewed as the cultural and political center of Bexar. On August 1st 1888 King Eduardo was riding in an open carriage on his way to a hunting trip when an assassin hidden in a grove of trees shot him to death. 1888 TO 1908 CE: GALICIA, CASTILLE AND LEÓN STRIVE FOR DOMINANCE Within days of the death of King Eduardo, his sons Juan and Stefano began moving against each other. Juan, Eduardo’s oldest son claimed power as eldest heir. Stefano however had built an extensive power base in the Nueva Galicia provinces, contested that claim. During the first two years of the conflict both brothers moved to consolidate power and allies. Both attempted to pull Nuevo León, which at the point had remained neutral and independent, into their camps. On December 15th 1890 Stefano struck first crossing the borders of Nuevo León at a dozen different points and striking deep into that province. At first slow to respond, Juan’s forces were steadily pushed back until they had come within 50 kilometers of the Castille border. Reinforcements rushed to the front from Cuidad del Rey soon stiffened the resistance and then began to steadily push the invaders back. Within a few short years Juan had regained almost all of his lost territory and in some cases had pushed into territory claimed by Stefano. In 1896 the two agreed to a tentative peace and tried to work out their differences by negotiation. It was at this point that the Governor of Nuevo León, the elected leader of that province offered to chair the negotiations in order to bring about a fair resolution to the matter. Finally in 1901 both Juan and Stefano frustrated with lack of a resolution agreed to come to Sevilla la Nueva and allow Govenor Leon Flores to chair their negotiations. Upon arrival however, both Juan and Stefano exhorted Flores privately to swear loyalty to them and assist one against the other. Flores rebuffed all offers and pushed ahead with the negotiations and for three long years attempted to work out a peace agreement between the two. Finally after another series of clashes along the border between the two, Flores grew impatient and ejected both from Leónan territory on January 17th 1907. Days later after a nearly unanimous vote of support in the Leónan Chamber of Commons, Governor Leon Flores contacted both Prince Juan and Prince Stefano and asked for their unconditional surrenders to him. After receiving the predictable scathing response from both Juan and Stefano, Leon Flores began using naval vessels to start raiding up and down the coasts of the Galicia and Castilla. Stung repeatedly both Juan and Stefano forgot their own differences and moved against León, which was just what Flores had counted on. Leónan forces, which had benefited from being trained by a group of Prussian officers, met Prince Stefano first at Loma Vieja Pass in the Blue Mountains. Using the terrain to their advantage they ambushed Stefano’s forces and decimated them, killing Prince Stefano in the process. After this battle, Leónan forces moved across the province in a series of forced marches to be in place to meet Prince Juan at the Rio Caliente pass. Unlike with Prince Stefano, Leónan forces were not able to meet Juan’s forces on the terrain of their own choosing and were forced to attack him head on as he emerged from the pass. The Leónans were again victorious after a three day long battle in which both sides suffered horrendous casualties. In the end Prince Juan suffered the same fate as his brother Stefano and León had emerged Supreme. 1908 TO 1912 CE: THE LEÓNAN PROTECTORATE ERA After the deaths of Prince Juan and Prince Stefano, Malkovia was the only province left in Bexar that had a functioning government. Leónan troops soon moved into the other provinces and set up provisional governments. In 1909 after being re-elected as Governor of León by a landslide, Leon Flores, in a radio speech to the entire island of Bexar, declared that it was time for the entire island to be united under one flag. Opening up a constitutional convention in which representatives from the entire nation were invited he worked tirelessly until March 15th, 1912 when the Bexaran constitutional convention ratified and placed into law the first Bexaran Constitution and bringing into existence the Republic of Bexar. 1912 TO 1953 CE: RISE OF THE REPUBLIC On August 1st, 1912 Leon Flores was elected as the Republic of Bexar’s first President. Flores worked hard in the early years to rebuild the damage caused by years of wars. Flores was also able to foster economic development and industries were soon coming into Bexar from overseas. Flores retired from office and public life at the end of his term on August 1st, 1918 and spent the rest of his life in his native province of León. He died on March 3rd 1925, in his sleep at his home in Santiago de la Vega and the entire nation mourned his loss for a period of six weeks. During the next few decades, Bexar saw an explosion of industrial growth as vast deposits of minerals and raw materials were discovered. Due to Bexar’s unusual geology most of its raw materials can only be found hundreds of feet into the earth’s crust. With newer technology mineralogists were able to detect a literal treasure trove of minerals such as Gold, Silver, Iron and many other useful ores. Deep shafts were sunk into the earth to dig out the resources, which fueled an explosion of industry within Bexar. Due to the massive growth, imports and exports increased dramatically and standards of living reached unprecedented heights. Trouble however, was around the corner. 1953 TO 1969 CE: THE DECLINE While on the surface the Bexaran industrial revolution was a great boon to society, many problems lay under the surface. Due to the swift buildup of industry, corporations were able to attain fabulous amounts of wealth and political power, in a relatively short period of time. By the time Parliament recognized the growing power of the industrial complex and tried to take measures against excess, it was to late. The first attempts at putting controls on industry were an attempt by Parliament to enact anti-trust laws. In a massive campaign the corporate giants took to the streets rallying their workers against the new laws claiming that they would stifle corporate creativity and success. Due to Corporate panic tactics and pressure placed on legislators during an election year, the measures failed. The next attempt by Parliament to curb corporate power was a measure that would prevent business from taking part of political action committees and from making financial contributions for political causes. This time the measure was tied up in committee by corporate backed legislators for months until it died. In June of 1962 in an election fraught with allegations of electoral tampering and corruption, Hugo Manzo Serrano, a corporate backed candidate, was elected President of the Republic. Freed from what remaining restraint they had the Corporate Industrial Complex forced out all remaining overseas business and destroyed the few remaining small companies that were still trying to compete. As a result of the lacking competition the quality of Bexaran products went down and their prices went up. The average Bexaran began turning to import products rather than purchasing those built in Bexar. In 1965 with profits rapidly dwindling and inflation on the rise President Serrano issued an executive order freezing the importation of goods to Bexar. At that time Bexar’s main trading partners were Spain and the US. In the face of this action, both nations ended all trade agreements with Bexar as well. While the impact of ending trade with Spain and the US hurt both nations to a degree the impact on the already fragile Bexaran economy was devastating. Bexaran diplomats were withdrawn from both nations under protest and diplomatic relations were suspended. On March 9th 1969, a Bexaran Army Colonel by the name of Manuel Estivez Rodriguez began forming a cadre of disaffected troops and disillusioned citizens. Moving throughout the countryside and from city to city the colonel promised a utopian society under communism, and taking advantage of a weary and beaten people launched an assault on republic forces on July 21st 1969. Within weeks Rodriguez had marched into Cuidad del Rey and captured the government. After a six-week trial President Serrano, the members of Parliament and the owners and stockholders of every corporate interest in Bexar were found guilty of embezzelment and corruption and executed. Over three thousand people stood before the firing squads of the new Communist government. With the change over in government the USSR and China signed trade agreements with Rodriguez, who had promoted himself to the rank of General, and that was the end of the Republic of Bexar. 1969 TO 1998 CE: THE PEOPLES SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF BEXAR The years of communist oppression in Bexar were not well recorded by that government but what is known is that it was one of the most oppressive times in Bexaran history. Concentration and reeducation camps were a norm and brutal executions and government crackdowns kept a terrified populace under control. Very early on Rodriguez established treaties with China, and the Soviet Union, trading raw materials for arms and equipment. While building up an impressively large military, Bexar was rapidly digressing in areas such as education, health, agriculture, industry and personal freedoms became a thing of the past. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992 and the failure of the Communist/Socialist philosophy all over the world, Rodriguez’s Bexar found herself in dire straights. Embargoed by the rest of the world due to human rights violations, with the Soviet Union collapsing, China turning to interests elsewhere and Cuba barely able to provide for her own needs, Bexar was rapidly on the verge of total social collapse. With four nation wide crackdowns in less then five years due to rioting over lack of food, medicine and power, Bexar was on the verge of civil war. After nearly thirty years on communist misrule, the Peoples Socialist Republic of Bexar exploded into violence and revolution on June 12th, 1998 with a food riot in the capital city of Ciudad de la Victoria Socialista, as Cuidad del Rey was now called. Citizens angry over severe poverty, high unemployment as well as shortages in power, medication and even fresh water took to the city streets in protest. By the 14th, under siege in the Bexaran capital building known as Casa del Pueblo, Bexaran dictator General Manual Estivez Rodriguez ordered his army into action. With shocking brutality, the Guardia Revolucionaria (Revolutionary Guard) put down the riot in a massacre in which the dead numbered over 1600 people. Reports of communist troops firing machine guns into unarmed crowds of panicked civilians were common, and eyewitnesses even reported a platoon of T-72 main battle tanks destroying vehicles trying to flee from the city. By the end of that day, the Guard was in complete control of the city. General Rodriguez warned the Rocentian people on national T.V. that, "further civil disobedience would not be tolerated and the Bexaran Peoples Communist Party could and would put an end to the current crises using any means necessary." While the general's brutal actions may have seemed to help him keep his grip firm on power, many things were going on behind the scenes. 1998 - 2009 CE RETURN OF THE EXILES Since the 1950's there had been a growing Bexaran expatriate community, particularly in Spain and the United States. In the 1960's, members of this community established La Hermandad (The Brotherhood) as a pressure group to highlight the plight of the Bexaran people internationally at first under the Serrano then Communist regimes. Over the years its charector changed, and it became a more militant political movement dedicated to the overthrow of the Communists in Bexar following the 1998 massacres. Based in Florida, it began to recieve tactit support from US Government agencies, including the CIA. In 2005, a recently retired former US Army Ranger, Lt. Colonel Hermann von Salza joined the Hermandad as the senior military advisor. With CIA assistance he began forming a paramilitary unit, the Brigada Asalto Hermandad (BAH). He also had developed contacts with dissafected elements within the regular Bexaran Army and Air Force, which were suffering from a lack of serviceable equipment all of which was outdated, as the Revolutionary Guard was given the best equipment and majority of the defence budget. A second uprising in Bexar occured in 2008. The Revolutionary Guards began rounding up hundreds of civilians and began housing them in concentration camps all over Bexar. Within three days they had over 10,000 civilians imprisoned. On July 24th an open broadcast was transmitted all over the world showing a number of concentration camps and the prisoners in them. It also showed a firing squad executing one hundred unarmed men, women and children. At the end of the execution General Rodriguez stated that he would begin executing one hundred prisoners a day until the people returned to their homes. After a long meeting with their backers, the Hermandad put in motion Operation Liberty. At 2230 hours on July 27th, 17 freighters and troop transports left vaiuos ports in the US. After a rendevous at Navassa Island, they sailed for Bexar. On July 30th the fleet arrived off Bahía de Montego. The troop transports landed on the beaches unopposed, the assault troops quickly securing the harbour allowing the heavy equipment and supplies to be landed. General Rodriguez ordered the Army and Air Force to "throw the dogs back into the sea", believing the BAH to be ill equipped and not worth the effort for the Revolutionary Guard to deal with. However the Army forces sent to attack the BAH instead defected, and as General von Salza led the newly formed Fuerzas de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Forces - FLN) inland, more units joined the nationalist cause. By January 2009, the NLF was in control of the entire island, with only the Casa del Pueblo in Cuidad del Rey as the Communists final strongpoint. After bombing by the Air Force, Hermann von Salza himself led the final assault which ended the Communist regime. General Manual Estivez Rodriguez commited suicide just before the fall. 2009 - CE THE STATE OF BEXAR In the aftermath of what became the War of National Liberation, many expected a return to civilian democratic government and the inevitable corruption that was seen in the 1950's and 60's. However Hermann von Salza was determined not to allow that to happen. In January, von Salza managed to fuse the ideologically incompatible National-Syndicalists and the National Christians with those loyal to him in the Hermandad into a single-party under his rule, dubbed La Hermandad Tradicionalista y Nacional-Sindicalista (The Traditionalist and National Sydicalist Brotherhood), which became the only legal party and asserted itself as the main component of the Movimiento Nacional. In a state of emergency-like status, central committee of the Hermandad worked as makeshift legislature of Bexar until the passing of the Organic Law of 2009 (Ley Organica) and the Constituting of the National Council Act (Ley Constitutiva de las Consejo Nacional) the same year, which saw the grand opening of the Consejo Nacional on July 18, 2009. The Organic Law stipulated the government to be ultimately responsible for all legislation of the country, while defining the Consejo Nacional as a purely advisory body elected by neither direct or universal suffrage. As all ministers were appointed on the grace of von Salza as the "Chief" of state and government, he was monopolized as the one source of legislation. The law of national referendums (Ley del Referendum Nacional), passed in 2010 approved for all "fundamental law" to be approved by a popular referendum, in which only the family heads could vote. Links *Bexar Category:Bexar Category:History